This is the longest operating hospital in the US and the pride of
This is the longest operating hospital in the US and the pride of
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NEW YORK (AP) — Flood damage at Bellevue Hospital is so extensive and severe that a full evacuation of patients was necessary, the president of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation said Wednesday, adding that the facility would be “doing very well” if it’s able to reopen in even two or three weeks.
The hospital had moved out more than 400 patients by Wednesday evening and hoped to have the remaining 300 evacuated by noon Thursday, HHC President Alan Aviles said.
Bellevue lost power during Monday night’s massive storm and had been operating on backup generators since then.
The National Guard helped carry some of the patients in more serious condition down as many as 18 flights of stairs, and on Wednesday, it became clear that the damage was so much that all of the patients needed out, Aviles said.
He said Bellevue, which he said was the longest-operating hospital in the country, had never experienced anything like this.
“Irene did not come close to creating a problem,” he said, referring to last year’s storm. He said the hospital sits about 20 feet above sea level, so “although we certainly prepared for the possibility, it seemed like it was relatively remote given” all of the projections about how high the storm surge would go.
